Singapore...

The final session of Jimmy’s Renewable Energy Executive Management Course took place in Singapore. I would have loved to have tagged along, but it wasn’t practical. I was especially bummed not to be along after I saw the amazing view from his hotel room...

 ...and some of the amazing sights that he saw. Singapore has definitely changed since we were there together in the early 90’s.

Here Jimmy and his classmate Walter pose in front of the Marina Bays Sands Hotel during a 10K run in 90° F heat with high humidity.

They later went into the hotel for drinks with their class. This photo shows the stores along the waterfront...

...while this one shows the incredible rooftop infinity pool. Unfortunately, only hotel guests are allowed to take a plunge.

Jimmy enjoyed seeing a solar panel plant as well as graduating from his course.

Kati Loves to Chase...

With Jimmy in Singapore and Carlin sick, Kent and I took Kati to walk around Vlietland as part of our Coast-2-Coast training.  It was the last chance to let Kati off leash there until October and she took full advantage of being able to run around and chase the geese.

It was a beautiful day just before the start of spring.

Kati's First Trip to the Beach...

On a Friday in March, Carlin and I made plans to have lunch with Terri. After Carlin fell sick, Terri suggested that we put Kati in her car and go to Wassenaar Beach for lunch and a walk. Kati had never been to the beach, so I didn’t know how she’d react. She was great!

She enjoyed exploring and meeting new dogs.

It was windy, but Terri and I were really happy to be outside on a sunny day...

...and so was Kati. Hopefully we’ll get back out there before dogs are banned on the beach for the summer.

Uni Life...

Veronica continues to send us photos to share her life with us. She took this lovely sunset shot from the ferry upon her return to the UK in early January. 

Here she is with Ryan as Lilo and Stitch for an animated character-themed Ultimate Frisbee party.

We are very proud that Veronica decided to run for Environmental Officer for next year’s Student Union Officers. We were very impressed with her campaign materials...

...although Jimmy talked her out of hanging this at the Student Union as it might give a bad impression to the administration (although there’s no doubt that it’s very creative). She won!

Fun Times...

Ashlynn and Andrew came back to our apartment for a little rest before dinner. She was so glad to be on holiday with him...

...as I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Sally for two nights. 

The girls spent the next night with me at the apartment. Couldn’t resist getting the Popscotch cocktail made with popcorn, ice cream and butterscotch schnapps at Mr. Postles’ Apothecary. Jimmy arrived the following morning for a quick one night visit.

On Saturday night, Veronica invited Larry and Sam, two of her future housemates, to join us for dinner at the Waffle House because Larry had never eaten a waffle before. Sam is very sweet; Larry is wacky, for lack of a better word, and one of Veronica’s closest friends. Later, Veronica snuck Ashlynn into the LCR, the on-campus nightclub, where they danced until the wee hours of the morning. Jimmy and I had a late night bar hopping, which was quite fun. 

On Sunday, Jimmy and I had a nice brunch before meeting Veronica and Ashlynn over at UEA. We had an early dinner at a Thai restaurant on a boat near the train station before Ashlynn and I headed to Harwich to catch the ferry and Jimmy headed to London for some meetings. Despite lots of crazy winds in February, we were lucky and we had calm seas for our ferry rides.

On Campus...

While Sally and I explored Norwich, the kids went to a class and cooked at Veronica’s flat. The following day, we met them on campus so Sally could get a tour. We started in Veronica’s room and the messy shared kitchen...

...and then walked across campus to the café at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

Veronica met Peter at Outward Bound in Scotland in 2013; he’s studying to become a paramedic and joined us for lunch. After lunch, Ashlynn and Andrew went to a class with Veronica while Sally and I roamed around the art centre and bought some groceries, then we went into town together.

Veronica had recently started to date Jason, who’s also on the Frisbee team and studies Environmental Science but is graduating this year, so she was excited to have him join us for dinner. Afterwards, all the kids went back to school for Frisbee practice while Sally and I enjoyed a long chat.

The Cloisters...

These cloisters are the second largest in England.

There were lots of unusual wooden carvings along the ceiling. Is that a giant fried egg in this creature’s mouth?

Unlike the other memorials in the cathedral, this one looked like a kid’s drawing of a skeleton from 400 years ago:

All you that do this place pass bye

Remember death for you must dye.

As you are now even so was I

And as I am so shall you be.

Thomas Gooding here do staye

Wayting for God's judgement daye.

Norwich Cathedral...

Ashlynn and I headed back to Norwich over her February half term break. Veronica had invited Andrew to come see what uni life is like outside of Cambridge, where he has visited David several times. We were thrilled that Sally had agreed to allow Andrew to stay with Veronica and Ashlynn for two nights while Sally stayed with me in an apartment in the city center. After lunch with the five of us, the kids headed to UEA and Sally and I went sightseeing.

We headed to Norwich Cathedral, completed in 1145 and remodeled in 1480. It had clearly been remodeled more recently as it was in excellent shape.

It was extra special lighting a candle and placing it in this globe candelabra.

A Beauty Shoot at a Hair Academy...

In late January, Ashlynn had her first photo shoot since Tokyo. It was a graduation project for B-Academy, a hair, make-up and style academy in Amsterdam. When Ashlynn texted that there were stickers on her face, I was afraid that she’d look goofy. Luckily the make-up artist didn’t like the idea of covering her face. I really like the result.

There were two other models as well. This is Ashlynn’s favorite from the shoot...

...and this one is my favorite.

Not exactly sure why, but this hairstyle is popular right now in the world of fashion.

Closing the Show...

For the first time, Ashlynn had a change of clothes during the show as she was one of the four models that wore two outfits.

Since she was closing the show, she was the last to walk down the catwalk.

She also had an extra pause alone on the catwalk...

...before leading everyone down for the finale.

This group shot was taken with the designer after the show. Jimmy and I were also in Amsterdam that day and Ashlynn met us across town at a hotel hosting a beer festival which we were attending with some hashers. While the hashers were going out to dinner together, we instead opted to head to the Foodhallen (Food Halls), an indoor food market with a huge variety of gourmet choices.

First Outfit for the Catwalk...

Dutch designer Anbasja specializes in trousers. Ashlynn was the only model wearing a coat, so the trousers were shown off better by the other models.

Luckily for Ashlynn the heels weren’t too high.

Luckily for me, there were a lot of good photos taken by the official fashion show photography team of Peter Stighter.